Tall can aligning device



QUAMMA" TA'LL' cm umume nnyxcs May 23, 1939.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fi m; Jan. 28, 1938 AMAT/A/ QUAMMA ATTORNEY May 23, 1939. M. QUAMMA TALL CAN ALIGNING DEVICB' Filed Jan. 2a. 1938 a Sheets- Sheet 2 IMWIIHINIII QEEEEHEQi E5.

'INVEN ml? MAm/y QUAMMA ATTORNEY May 23, 1939. M, QUAMMA 2,159,050

I TALL 01m ALIGNING mavma Filed Jan. 28, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 5 //VVNTO/? 8 8 5 8 MART/N UAMMA ATTORNEY Patented May 23, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TALL CAN ALIGNING DEVICE Martin Quamma, San Diego, Calif.

Application January 28, 1938. Serial No. 187,447

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This invention relates to can handling machinery, and particularly pertains to tall can aligning devices, of the general type shown in my co-pending application entitled "Can align-- ing means," Serial No. 150,586, filed June 26,

In operations concerned with the handling of cans, and particularly filled cans, it is common practice at certain stages of the procedure for the cans to be placed in baskets or other containers without being uniformly arranged, and while the cans assume positions at random. It is later necessary to remove the rough packed" cans and place them in containers or on conveying equipment in which the cans will lie in a uniform position. This in most instances requires that the cans shall be picked up separately by a workman and set in desired position. In my copending application, as above mentioned, a machine is shown which is particularly useful in arranging short cans in alignment. By short cans it is understood that the diameter of the can is greater than the height of the can. The invention here concerned provides means for gghandling cans known to the trade as tall cans and in which the diameter of the can is less than the height of the can, and thus provides a diiferent problem in handling and in aligning arrangement. It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a device into which cans may be dumped without order or arrangement, and within which device the cans will be arranged so that they will flow from the machine along a single spout, and with the cans in the same relationship to each other, whether disposed end to end, or side by side, and may thereafter move to suitable machinery within which they are acted upon or by which they may be packed.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation showing the complete machine with which the present inven- Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in vertical section 55 and elevation showing the manner in which the can is overturned so that it will roll on the table.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 disclosing an intermediate arrangement of the cans.

Fig. 7 is a view showing the modified form of the invention for overturning the cans.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view as seen on the line 8-8 of Fig. 4 and discloses the manner in which the cans are placed side by side in the runway along which they pass from the machine.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, Ill indicates a main frame structure here shown as having a pair of front posts H and a pair of back posts l2. It is preferable that the front posts shall be shorter than the back posts so that an inclined frame l3 may be disposed thereupon in a manner to be hereinafter pointed out. The posts II and I2 are tied together by horizontal brace elements H and intermediate braces l5. These frame sections are then tied together at their ends by horizontal brace elements I6 and diagonal braces ll. The frame structure also carries a plurality of horizontal members l8 which project forwardly of the front of the frame structure Ill and provide a support for a can chute 19. This chute has an inclined floor 20 and spaced side walls 2| and 22. The distance between the spaced side walls is here shown as being slightly greater than the overall height of a can 23 which may roll along the floor 20 between the side walls. This prevents the cans from getting out of alignment after the cans have been placed in the chute.

The upper frame structure [3 comprises diagonal rails 24 and end boards 25 which are suitably secured together by uprights 26. The forward end of the inclined frame structure I! is pivoted to the posts ll of the frame Ill by pivot pins 21. The opposite end of the frame structure i3 is adjustably held by bolts 28 which may fit through an opening in the diagonal brace 24 and through one of a series of openings 29 in the rear vertical posts l2 of the main frame. By this arrangement the upper frame structure l3 may be vertically adjusted with the lower frame structure It. Extending parallel to and moving laterally across and beneath the end boards 25 is a vibrating floor 30. The vibrating floor 30 is provided with a pair of rails 3| which are fixed rigidly upon the end face of the floor 30 in spaced relation to each other and are preferably square or rectangular in sections so that their forward faces 32 will be at right angles to the face of the floor 30 and will engage flanges 33 upon supporting rollers 3. A series of the supporting rollers 34 are carried by the upper frame structure 3 and are mounted on brackets 35.. Thus the inclined floor 38 will be supported against downward movement in the direction of its incli-' nation while it will be free to vibrate in a plane transversely to its angle of inclination. Mounted upon the frame structure I8 and supported by the horizontal member I6 is a base 36 upon which is mounted an electric motor 31 carrying a suitable reduction gear 38. The motor and the reduction gear are of conventional type and drive a shaft 33. The shaft 33 is attached to a crank disc 48. The crank disc 48 carries a'crank pin 4| which is connected to a pitman rod 42. The opposite end of this pitman rod is provided with a pin 43 which connects it with a shackle structure 44. This shackle structure is attached to a bracket 45 by a pivot pin 46 which bracket is secured to the under face of the vibrating floor 38. The shackle structure 44 is formed with a pair of oppositely extending wings 41 which are rigid therewith and provide seats for springs 48, one of which is disposed on each side of the center of the shackle and interposed between the wing and a fastening plate 43 formed as a part of the bracket 45. It is to be understood that the longitudinal axis of the motor and its reduction gear 38 and the pivot pins 43 and 46 are parallel to each other with the pitman rod 42 extending in a plane transversely to the plane of inclination of the vibrating floor 38. Mounted upon the shaft 33 is also a bevel gear 58 which is in mesh with a bevel gear 5|. The bevel gear 5| is mounted upon a shaft 52 carried in a suitable bearing 53. "The bearing 53 is held upon the base structure 36, while the outer end of the shaft 52 is fitted with a sprocket wheel 54 or other suitable driving means. When a sprocket wheel is used a sprocket chain 55 is led around it and also around asprocket 56. The sprocket 56 is mounted upon the end of a shaft 51 which is supported in suitable bearings 68 above the side boards 25 of the table. The shaft 51 carries a roller 58 which extends transversely of the vibrating floor 38 and is spaced thereabove. The spacing is such as to dispose the lower edge of the roller 58 in spaced relation to the upper face of the vibrating floor 38, which space is greater than the diameter of the can 23, and is less than the height of the can 23. The shaft 51 is geared so that the roller 58 will rotate in a counterdirection to the inclination of the vibrating floor 38 and will thus engage the upper edges of any cans which are standing upright on the floor 38 and will tend to overturn them as their lower ends slip downwardly along the floor and beneath the roller. The roller 58 may be'made of any suitable material, but it is preferable to construct it of rubber, and to form longitudinal flutes or corrugations in its circumferential face so that these .will engage the lip of the can 23 and facilitate in overturning it. The roller 58 is positioned laterally of the inclined length of the floor 38 and disposed a distance from the upper edge of this floor to form a loading platform section 38a and an aligning section 3817. Cans are dumped atrandom on the loading platform section 3811 and after passing beneath the roller 68 will all lie flat on the section 38b. The major portion of the section 381; of the vibrating floor 38 is longitudinally corrugated, the corrugations being struck on arcs less than would be described by the radius of the cans. This insures that the vibrating floor would tend to distribute the cans and to move them around so that there would be a tendency for them to assume longitudinally aligned positions on the inclined floor. To facilitate in aligning the cans a plurality of guide fingers 68 are provided. Fingers 68 extend over the vibrating floor 38 and are V-shaped. They are spaced from each other to form V-shaped throats 6| which taper in the direction of the inclination of the floor. The uppermost ends of the fingers 68 are slightly rounded to form points 62 which points on adjacent fingers are spaced from each other a distance less than the height of a can. The throat 6| at its discharge end is of a width substantially agreeing with the diameter of the can. Thus in order for a can to enter the throat 6| the can must be turned endwise so that it will slide downwardly on the portion 38b of the vibrating floor and will be discharged into the chute I 9. Disposed across the chute l8 and substantially in alignment with the edges of the throats 6| opposite to the direction of travel of the cans along the chute deflecting plates 63 are provided. These plates have an arcuate vertical section with their lower edges tapered outwardly and forwardly in the direction of travel of the cans as they move along the chute l3. This insures that the forward ends of the cans when moving from the restricted end of the throat 6| will engage the curved faces of the deflector plate 63 so that the cans will be maintained in a substantially horizontally aligned position as they leave the vibrating floor 38 and completely enter the chute l9. Due to this arrangement the longitudinal axes of the cans 23 will be disposed horizontally, as particularly shown in Fig. 8 so that the ends of the cans will flt between the side walls 2| and 22 of the chute as they fall on to the bottom 28 after which they will be free to roll with their longitudinal axes in parallel alignment within the chute.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings, a tilting bar 64 is provided and the tilting roller 58 is eliminated. In this simplifled structure it is assumed that the angle of inclination of the vibrating floor 38 and the agitation caused by the vibration of this floor will be sufllcient to tend to unbalance the cans as they move downwardly from the portion 38a of the floor so that the upper ends will fall rearwardly as the lower ends move beneath the tilting rail. This will cause all of the cans which were upstanding to fall on to their sides as they move under the tilting rail and as they thereafter roll or slide into the throats 6| between the fingers 68.

In operation of the present invention tall cans are dumped on to the portion 38a of the vibrating floor 38. At the same time the motor 31 is operated to drive the crank disc 48 through the gearing 38. As this disc rotates it will reciprocate the pitman rod 42. The pitman rod in turn will act through the shackle structure 44 to impart lateral vibration to the floor 38 while the floor stands in its inclined plane. As the pitman rod 42 reaches the opposite end of its stroke the momentum of the floor 38 will be arrested since the floor must then pursue a path of travel-in the opposite direction. In order to cushion the parts the springs 48 are provided. Thus as the movement of the floor 38 is arrested in one direction when the pitman rod 42 ceases to move the shackle 44 in that particular direction, the pivot Fig. of the drawings.

II, the cans will tend to slide or roll'downwardly.

along the floor. The rolling cans will pass beneath the tilting roll ll without encountering the same. The sliding cans which are standing on one of their ends will move downwardly until their upper ends encounter the roller II, which roller is rotating in a direction counter to the inclination of the table. The result will be that the cans will be tipped over so that they will slide forwardly, the tipping action being illustrated in In some instances a rolling can and a tipped can might become stacked together and in order to prevent this a separating rail is provided, which extends across thefloor and in spaced relation thereto as supported by the side boards 25 of the table. This rail member 85 is preferably disposed at an inclination with its forward end in the direction of the movement of the cans and with its forward edge spaced above the vibrating floor 30 a suiilcient distance to permit the cans to roll or slide thereunder when lying completely upon the vibrating floor. It will thus be seen that under such circumstances all of the cans will be turned on to their sides and that as they slide downwardly along the portion 30b of the vibrating floor 30 they will either stand in direct aligned positions permitting them to slide directly down the throats I or will engage the ends of the aligning fingers 60 from which they will be dislodged and turned as the floor 3| vibrates. This dislodging and turning action will be facilitated due to the fact that the floor portion 30b is formed with longitudinal corrugations 88. As the cans slide of! the lower edge of the portion 30b of the vibrating floor '30 their forward ends will encounter the curved faces of the deflector plate 63, as indicated at a: in Figs. 4 and 8. It has been explained that the width of the chute I! as defined by the vertical side walls 2| and 22 is such as to accommodate the length of a can without permitting it to turn from this position so that when the can has moved entirely from the vibrating floor 30 it will be deflected in a plane at right angles to its longitudinal axis so that the cans will fall on to the chute floor 20 as they roll off the deflecting plate 63, as particular'ly disclosed in Fig. 8 of the drawings. Due to the fact that the chute floor 20 is disposed at an inclination to the horizontal the cans may then roll to any desired station, such for example as a labeling machine or a packing device.

It will thus be seen that the invention here disclosed embodies the use of a very simple mechanism, constructed of few parts, and which may be efliclently operated to receive tall cans at random and to rapidly place them in uniform conditions of alignment and to discharge them from the machine.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known'to me, it will be understood that various changes might be made in the I combination, construction, and arrangement of parts, by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A tall can aligning device comprising a vibratory floor along which cans may move, means for vibrating said floor to move said cans, means disposed above said floor and beneath which cans may roll, said means acting to overturn cans moving upon the floor on their ends, means cooperating with said floor for arranging the cans in uniform positions of longitudinal alignment, and a chute into which said cans are discharged while in said longitudinally aligned positions.

2. A-tall can aligning device comprising an inclined vibratory floor along which cans may move, means for vibrating said floor, means disposed above said. floor and beneath which cans may roll, said means acting to overturn cans moving upon the floor on their ends, means cooperating with said floor for arranging the cans in uniform positions of longitudinal alignment, a chute into which said cans are discharged while in said longitudinally aligned positions,

and intermediate means between the floor and the chute for receiving the cans and maintaining them in their longitudinally aligned positions as they enter the chute.

3. A tall can aligning device comprising a subframe, an upper frame mounted thereon, a vibrating floor carried by the upper frame and supported at an inclination to the horizontal and in a manner to vibrate in a plane transversely of its inclination, driving means for vibrating said floor, means disposed above the floor and in spaced relation thereto and under which the cans pass while lying on their sides only, a chute at the lower edge of said vibrating floor, said chute being of a width slightly greater than the height of the cans and having an inclined bottom on to which said cans may fall upon leaving the vibrating floor.

4. A tall can aligning device comprising a subframe, an upper frame mounted thereon, a vibrating floor carried by the upper frame and supportedat an inclination to the horizontal and in a manner to vibrate in a plane transversely of its inclination, driving means for vibrating said floor, means disposed above said floor and in spaced relation thereto and under which the cans Pass while lying on their sides only, a chute at the lower edge of said vibrating floor, said chute being of a width slightly greater than the height of the cans and having an inclined bottom on to which said cans may fall upon leaving said floor, and means disposed in the path of the cans as they move oi! oi said floor and into the chute whereby the longitudinal axis of the cans will be disposed horizontally as the cans fall on to the bottom of the chute.

5. A tall can aligning device comprising a subframe, an upper frame mounted thereon, a vibrating floor carried by the upper frame and supported at an inclination to the horizontal and in a manner to vibrate in a plane transversely of its inclination, driving means for vibrating said floor, means disposed above said floor and in spaced relation thereto and under which the cans pass while lying on their sides only, a chute at the lower edge of said vibrating floor, said chute being of a width slightly greater than the height of the cans and having an inclined bottom on to which said cans may fall upon leaving the vibrating floor, means disposed in the path of the cans as they move off of said floor and into the chute whereby the longitudinal axis of the cans will bottom of said chute, and means acting to place the cans in alignment with said last named means as the cans move along the vibrating floor.

6. A tall can aligning device comprising a subirame, anupper frame mounted thereon, a vibrating floor carried by the upper frame and supported at an inclination to the horizontal and in a manner to vibrate in aplane transversely of its inclination, driving means for vibrating said floor, means disposed above the fioor and in spaced, relation thereto and under which cans pass while lying on their sides only, a chute at the lower edge of said vibrating floor, said chute being oi a width slightly greater than the height of the cans and having'an inclined bottom on to which said cans iall upon leaving said floor, means disposed in the path oi the cans as they move oil of said floor and into the chute whereby the longitudinal axis of the cans will be disposed horizontally as the cans fall on to the bottom of the chute, means acting to place the cans in alignment with said last named means as the cans move along said vibrating floor, and mechanical means for turning the cans on to their sides as they pass along said floor.

'I. A tall can aligning device comprising an inclined floor to to which cans are dumped and along which they are adapted to travel, means for vibrating said floor to move said cans, leveling means above the floor and spaced from the floor a distance greater than the diameter of the can and a distance less than the height or a can, means disposed between the floor and the leveling means whereby cans standing on their ends will be overturned to lie upon the floor on their sides, and means acting while the cans move from the floor to dispose cans in uniform positions of longitudinal alignment.

8. A tall can aligning device comprising a vibrating floor disposed at an inclination to the horizontal, a can tilting structure extending above said floor in-spaced relation thereto' and tending to divide said vibrating floor into two sections, an upper section on to which cans may be placed at random, and a lower section along which the cans may slide, the lower section 02 said floor 'being longitudinally corrugated, driving means for said floor and said tilting structure, an inclined can chute disposed at the lower edge of said floor and adapted to receive cans from the floor, and means overhanging said floor for arranging the cans in longitudinally aligned positions as they pass over said floor and are discharged therefrom into said chute.

9. A tall can aligning device comprising a vibrating floor disposed at an inclination -to the horizontal, a can tilting structure extending above said floor in spaced relation thereto and tending to divide said floor into two sections, an upper section on to which cans may be placed at random, and a lower section along which the cans may slide, the lower section of said floor being longitudinally corrugated, driving means for said vibrating floor and said tilting structure, an inclined can chute at the lower edge of said floor adapted to receive cans'from the floor, means overhanging said floqr for arranging the cans in longitudinally aligned positions as they pass over said floor and are discharged therefrom into said chute, and means associated with the chute for receiving the cans as they are discharged from the floor and for disposing the cans with their longitudinal axes transversely arranged with relation to the length of said chute.

MARTIN QUAMMA. 

